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dont care where he plays but his bat has to be in the lineup...this guy can hit...he hit in the minors and he is really raking in the majors

jbrach wrote: ↑16 May 2025 22:02 pm dont care where he plays but his bat has to be in the lineup...this guy can hit...he hit in the minors and he is really raking in the majors

I mean….of course.

His ops is 1.387. His BA is .419.

Él está en llamas, damas y caballeros.

The guy hit 300 as a rookie, he looks special not hot

Agree burly is hitting if need be put him in right bring in Walker as defensive replacement but Herrera needs to play every day I’m fine with him as DH and sometimes catcher and in offseason have him try to learn the corners but he needs to be in the lineup every day he won’t hit .400 but with his all fields approach and taking solid at bats he needs to play

Can they quickly teach him to stand in RF, and catch fly balls?
That would be amazing

I saw some comments about Herrera's BAPIP in GDT.

I have never loved the BAPIP means "luck" idea. How hard you hit the ball matters, and players do indeed direct the ball based on defensive positioning and where the ball is pitched.

Yes, his BAPIP is .385, but that doesn't mean he is purely lucky.

He is hitting it hard where the defense isn't, I'd suggest BAPIP is about 20% about luck.

STL Cardinal Fan 24 wrote: ↑17 May 2025 02:44 am I saw some comments about Herrera's BAPIP in GDT.

I have never loved the BAPIP means "luck" idea. How hard you hit the ball matters, and players do indeed direct the ball based on defensive positioning and where the ball is pitched.

Yes, his BAPIP is .385, but that doesn't mean he is purely lucky.

He is hitting it hard where the defense isn't, I'd suggest BAPIP is about 20% about luck.

I mean you have to be lucky to an extent to be hitting over .400. No one does over an extended period of time. But say his babip regresses to .300 and he still hits. 300 wirh decent power, hes still a great hitter, hes just on a torrid streak now

STL Cardinal Fan 24 wrote: ↑17 May 2025 02:44 am I saw some comments about Herrera's BAPIP in GDT.

I have never loved the BAPIP means "luck" idea. How hard you hit the ball matters, and players do indeed direct the ball based on defensive positioning and where the ball is pitched.

Yes, his BAPIP is .385, but that doesn't mean he is purely lucky.

He is hitting it hard where the defense isn't, I'd suggest BAPIP is about 20% about luck.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/team/138
According to statcast baseball savant page, herrera has an expected batting average of .356 vs his current .409 and an expected slg% of .756 vs his current .907

Its ultimately a small sample size but even with some extra luck, the xba and xslg% still say hes killing it right now and have expected ops well over 1.000 still.

Hes clearly locked in. However, small sample size. He will probably havw a slump at some point but im excited to see what he can do over full season.

Regarding BABIP:

Since 1970, 1535 players have taken 2000+ PA in the majors.

Of those 1535 players, only 4 (Rod Carew, Austin Jackson, Chris Johnson, and Aaron Judge) have a BABIP greater than .350. Only 19 (about 1%) have a BABIP greater than .340. And only 75 (about 5%) even have a BABIP greater than .330.

So anybody sitting on a BABIP greater than about .330 over a small sample size is likely seeing a lot of positive "luck" in their results.

Projecting Herrera to be a +.800 OPS type guy currently looks pretty good.
That's a potential bat worth trying to protect from the rigors of C, especially when he's not particularly good at it and the system has some good C prospects not far from their own opportunity at the show.
A plus .800 OPS guy plays anywhere his defense doesn't limit himself too much. LF would be the first place to try to expand his positional resume past being the current 3rd C and DH.

Just not at catcher

Of course he does. I love the way he attacks the baseball, yet hits it where it is pitched - not trying to pull everything. Hitting nearly 29% to the opposite field on contact. He is making hard contact 43% of AB this season, vs only 8.6% soft contact.

Joseph-Magrane wrote: ↑17 May 2025 01:17 am Can they quickly teach him to stand in RF, and catch fly balls?
That would be amazing

Teaching him to stand in LF and catching fly balls with Nootbaar moving to RF would be a better plan if things continue as they are.

Laughed at the headline

A Mr. Obvious moment

Wonder if a KC poster did a :
Bobby Witt Jr. clearly needs to be in the lineup every day

Don’t care if he plays 2nd or SS , he can hit !


Don’ t worry though, I have a sneaky feeling he won’t be held out from batting. DH or wherever

You wii NOT see this headline on CT
Oli benches Herrera.
tells fans he can’t find adequate position Lmao